How necessary is CDL really? (1 Viewer)

[stonepa]

Sorry. Late to this thread…. But can you expand on the “gather coal for this winter” on the beach?

Gather wood and make charcoal?
Is there actual coal on the beach?
I’m befuddled and as a wanna-be Alaskan I am curious about the natives.

Nope - actually gathering coal from the beach to burn in a coal stove to keep the house warm. I have fuel oil heat as well but that isn’t cheap. Coal is free.

Cost of Cold: Staying warm in Homer

In Homer heating oil is an expensive alternative to natural gas. That forces some residents to consider less conventional options, like coal. Listen now

alaskapublic.org

 

[stonepa]

My 08 has not been offroaded in its life till I bought it.

4lo - works perfect , I can feel the gearing

CDL - when you press button - works perfectly (I think ) - the light is solid. It doesnt feel different

But when I turn it off, light will blink forever. Reverse, forward, light doesnt go off. Keeps blinking. Turning car off and on- turns light off for good. no more blinking

I changed the fluid. Went offroad again. Same above behavior. Turns on instantly, but turn off light is all flashing, till I turn car on and off

Are you in neutral when you turn it off?

 

[MCtree]

Nope - actually gathering coal from the beach to burn in a coal stove to keep the house warm. I have fuel oil heat as well but that isn’t cheap. Coal is free.

Cost of Cold: Staying warm in Homer

In Homer heating oil is an expensive alternative to natural gas. That forces some residents to consider less conventional options, like coal. Listen now

alaskapublic.org

Ha! I would have never guessed.
Thanks for the education.

Sorry for hijacking! I’m done now.

 

[ryanCA]

Are you in neutral when you turn it off?

No. Does it need to be in N to turn off CDL?

I was thinkign CDL can be turned on and off on the fly.

 

[stonepa]

No. Does it need to be in N to turn off CDL?

I was thinkign CDL can be turned on and off on the fly.

I always put it in neutral but I could be wrong as well. That being said, it always goes right into and out of CDL

 

[ryanCA]

I always put it in neutral but I could be wrong as well. That being said, it always goes right into and out of CDL

Ok i will try it in N

do you “feel” anything? Just seeing what I need to look out for

thank you

 

[stonepa]

Ok i will try it in N

do you “feel” anything? Just seeing what I need to look out for

thank you

I always hear it engaging and sometimes feel it locking.

 

[linuxgod]

You can engage and disengage the CDL up to 60 mph. You only need to shift to neutral to engage and disengage 4Lo.

 

[ryanCA]

You can engage and disengage the CDL up to 60 mph. You only need to shift to neutral to engage and disengage 4Lo.

yeah thats what I was doing

my CDL engages but car needs turn off for disengagement

 

[ryanCA]

I always hear it engaging and sometimes feel it locking.

hmmm i didnt hear anything or feel anything
only light comes on and stays solid

 

[stonepa]

hmmm i didnt hear anything or feel anything
only light comes on and stays solid

You may not hear anything if you are moving. It’s not very loud.

 

[ryanCA]

You may not hear anything if you are moving. It’s not very loud.

GOt it! This weekend, I will do the neutral and CDL as you recommended and lets see if that helps it

Appreciate the help as always.

P.S. I was trying to get our RX to high miles like your son's RX, but the non hybrid has a bad trans, and mine finally died at 310 k. We had owned it since new. TIme to give it to Ssalvatation army.

 

[stonepa]

GOt it! This weekend, I will do the neutral and CDL as you recommended and lets see if that helps it

Appreciate the help as always.

P.S. I was trying to get our RX to high miles like your son's RX, but the non hybrid has a bad trans, and mine finally died at 310 k. We had owned it since new. TIme to give it to Ssalvatation army.

310k is pretty awesome. What great vehicles. I wish they still made those Gen 2 RX hybrids new. Id buy another one in a second.

 

[linuxgod]

hmmm i didnt hear anything or feel anything
only light comes on and stays solid

Seems like the relay is sticking. That’s very uneducated hunch but when you turn on the CDL you’ll hear a relay click under the dash I think on the passengers side. It should also click when unlocking.

 

[ryanCA]

Seems like the relay is sticking. That’s very uneducated hunch but when you turn on the CDL you’ll hear a relay click under the dash I think on the passengers side. It should also click when unlocking.

I have been doing it offroad when driving..so definitely didn't hear it. I will engage it while stopped to see if I hear it. Appreciate the info.

 

[ryanCA]

@stonepa @linuxgod

Tested it today. Putting it in N and trying CDL, I only get flashing.

However, there is a noise under passenger feet when you press CDL.

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I have used the CDL few times after getting the truck. But today, doing reverse, turning it on while driving, in N, could NOT get CDL to stay solid. Was only flashing

 

[linuxgod]

@stonepa @linuxgod

Tested it today. Putting it in N and trying CDL, I only get flashing.

However, there is a noise under passenger feet when you press CDL.

-------

I have used the CDL few times after getting the truck. But today, doing reverse, turning it on while driving, in N, could NOT get CDL to stay solid. Was only flashing

You should be able to enable it in Drive up to 60mph. To engage the transfer case may need to rotate a bit in order to lock, so flashing in N isn't totally surprising. I typically find if I engage it while driving it click in within a second or two though.

Disengaging can be the same - it may or may not unlock right away or in N, often you do need to roll a bit. Now that you hear the relay clicking on, once you get it to lock again, see if it clicks out when you try to disengage. (Try disengaging while driving if you can. If it doesn't click out you can do some turns left and right, stop and try Neutral, or drive in Reverse a few feet. If none of those disengage it and you're not hearing the relay click out my hunch is a bad relay, though it could be an issue with the actuator not properly registering that the CDL motor has spun back into place)

 

[ryanCA]

You should be able to enable it in Drive up to 60mph. To engage the transfer case may need to rotate a bit in order to lock, so flashing in N isn't totally surprising. I typically find if I engage it while driving it click in within a second or two though.

Disengaging can be the same - it may or may not unlock right away or in N, often you do need to roll a bit. Now that you hear the relay clicking on, once you get it to lock again, see if it clicks out when you try to disengage. (Try disengaging while driving if you can. If it doesn't click out you can do some turns left and right, stop and try Neutral, or drive in Reverse a few feet. If none of those disengage it and you're not hearing the relay click out my hunch is a bad relay, though it could be an issue with the actuator not properly registering that the CDL motor has spun back into place)

Thank you kindly for the help. I will try it this evening and report back.

 

[linuxgod]

Thank you kindly for the help. I will try it this evening and report back.

Also I'm assuming you're locking and unlocking on gravel or dirt. If you do it on pavement the transfer case may have issues trying to engage.

There's a fairly length test procedure for the CDL which I'm happy to share with you. Interestingly "unable to shift from free to lock" has a troubleshooting section, but the reverse doesn't exist. It's probably the same tests though. Some of them can be done with a multi-tester, but others require the actuator to be removed

 

[krice118]

When I wheeled my LX for the first time, I attempted to drive up an off camber rocky hill, I was stopped quickly. I was disappointed in ATRAC / MTS.

Then I remembered I needed to lock the CDL. Crawled right up.